NSCAT Level 2 Ocean Wind Vector Geophysical Data Record

The NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) Level 2 ocean wind vectors in 50 km wind vector cell (WVC) swaths contain daily data from ascending and descending passes. Wind vectors are accurate to within 2 m/s (vector speed) and 20 degrees (vector direction). Wind vectors are not considered valid in rain contaminated regions; rain flags and precipitation information are not provided. Data is flagged where measurements are either missing, ambiguous, or contaminated by land/sea ice. Winds are calculated using the NSCAT-2 model function. This is the most up-to-date version, which designates the final phase of calibration, validation and science data processing, which was completed in November of 1998, on behalf of the JPL NSCAT Project; wind vectors are processed using the NSCAT-2 geophysical model function.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Maintainer Earthdata Forum
Last Updated August 25, 2026, 11:00 (UTC)
Created April 1, 2025, 18:11 (UTC)
accessLevel public
bureauCode {026:00}
catalog_conformsTo https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
harvest_object_id 86be824f-bf4b-430f-a910-f06187a32594
harvest_source_id b99e41c6-fe79-4c19-bbc3-9b6c8111bfac
harvest_source_title Science Discovery Engine
identifier 10.5067/NSGDR-L2X02
license https://www.usa.gov/government-works
modified 2026-08-17T22:16:03Z
programCode {026:000}
publisher NASA/JPL/PODAAC
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 39ab8758c2b1dc592c45fb928f890a7483eb5dae60ff54849a623887c3b29b70
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial ["CARTESIAN", [{"EastBoundingCoordinate": 180, "NorthBoundingCoordinate": 90, "SouthBoundingCoordinate": -90, "WestBoundingCoordinate": -180}]]
temporal 1996-09-15/1997-06-29
theme {"Earth Science"}